Vols announce addition of Igor Milicic Jr. from Charlotte. Croatian was among the top big men in AAC

Igor Milicic Jr., one of the top big men in the American Athletic Conference at Charlotte last season, will play his final year at Tennessee.

Volunteers coach Rick Barnes announced on Thursday the addition of Milicic, who becomes the third transfer to join the team for 2024-25.

The 6-foot-10, 225-pound Croatian spent his first season at Virginia and the last two at Charlotte. He has averaged 8.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game in his career.

Milicic is coming off his best season. He averaged 12.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 blocks per game and started 30 of 31. He shot 48.7%, including 37.6% on 3-pointers.

The Vols also have added guard Darlinstone Dubar from Hofstra and forward Felix Okpara from Ohio State from the transfer portal.

In another move, Tyler Nickel is transferring from Virginia Tech to Vanderbilt, his new school announced. The 6-7 wing was mostly a reserve for the Hokies last season and averaged 8.8 points per game and shot 39.9% on 3-pointers.

Nickel scored a career-high 24 points and shot 5 of 7 on 3s in the Hokies’ 87-72 win over Clemson on Jan. 10.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball